Monday, April 16, 2012

...The crazy, colorful, fun shaped cakes! Not for the faint-hearted, or those with traditional grandmas they need to impress; a whimsical cake is unique and memorable!

-it can be "flow-y" and customized:-it can be colorful:-it can be themed and elegant (obviously designed for a vineyard wedding):-it can be intricate and simple at the same time:-or it can always be crazy...like a Norwegian viking love boat sailing into the horizon!

Hope that gives you some ideas MaryBeth...So excited to have you in our family!!!

YUM! It's just sooo good. The bitter from the chocolate, the sweet and tart from the fruit, breathy lightness from cake and fresh cream... It's just sooo good! Also, using unadulterated ingredients like chocolate and fruit lend a pure, natural quality to your event.

-here, the white chocolate has a little syrup added to make it malleable and wrapped around the sides of the cake. It makes a nice little basket to hold the berries on the cake:-never underestimate the power of a few well places chocolate shavings:-oh berry coule folded into chocolate ganache dusted with cocoa powder, how I love thee...-this is another take on the chocolate basket...piped to make it look like lace:-warm ganache dripped over the edge...great for an event with chocolate or champagne fountains:

So yes, fondant is not the silky, creamy frosting that we all crave with cake. BUT, there are soooooo many advantages! It doesn't melt in the middle of your summer wedding. Fondant can be dyed any color, and spread in a thin layer on your cake; no unfortunate red or green smiles in the wedding photos. The finish of a fondant cake is very smooth, so there's no need for frosting or ribbon borders to hide flaws. Finally, your cake can stay fresher longer- fondant can seal up the moisture of the cake, so leftovers can still taste good after the honeymoon!

-with this chocolate fondant cake, I was able to use edible gold paint to make vines and flowers to match:-here, I could use an edible pearl dust and white chocolate to create a 3-D leaf design:-you can give an antique feel to the cake by adding shadows with different edible spray paints:

These types of cakes tend to be very simple to allow the flowers to take all the glory. They are nice at a wedding because they tie together the bouquet, centerpieces, and boutonnieres.

-there's fresh flowers between each layer:-there's just a topper (you often see ribbon accents with flower cakes to carry the color down in the cake design):-or else you can have little clumps of flowers (fresh, or in this case made with marzipan):

So my soon-to-be sister-in-law may let me make her wedding cake, but she would like a few examples of my work before she decides. These aren't necessarily the best...but they may help her identify the style she likes.